The monsoon is peaking yet again under the influence of Tuesday’s depression, which, however, weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area on Wednesday.

The 24 hours ending in the morning saw heavy to very heavy rain over Odisha, East Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in line with the typical West-North-West track it took from the Odisha-Bengal coast.

Active monsoon

Strong monsoon westerlies generated from the Arabian Sea brought heavy rain to parts of the West Coast, including Kerala, Coastal and South Interior Karnataka and further East to Tamil Nadu.

Elsewhere, the convergence of westerly flows from the Arabian Sea and easterly flows from the Bay caused heavy rain over parts of Central and adjoining North-West India, especially Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.

The active monsoon rains are likely to continue into the next week with the India Met Department (IMD) signalling the possibility of another rain-generating low-pressure area forming over the Bay over the next five days.

An extended forecast valid from August 13-15 said that widespread rainfall is likely over the Western Himalayan region, adjoining plains of North-West India, East and North-East India and also along the West Coast.

Successor ‘low’

Isolated to scattered rainfall has been forecast over Central India during this period, while it will be isolated over the rest of the country, the IMD said in its forecast.

Meanwhile, a US National Weather Services model has persisted with the outlook for another burst of activity over the East Coast, but more southerly than usual, towards the South Andhra Pradesh Coast.

The US agency expects the Bay to be active for another fortnight (until August 25), which, if proven true, will substantiate the IMD’s upgraded forecast for rain in August from 94 per cent to 96 per cent.

In its outlook for Thursday, the IMD said that heavy to very heavy rain may lash East Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh, while it will be heavy over East Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Kerala, Coastal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa.

Dams in Kerala

Kerala has already been at the receiving end of the re-energised monsoon, with Wayanad district in the North receiving practically non-stop rain during the 12 hours ending Wednesday morning.

Heavy rains elsewhere have renewed the possibility of opening the shutters of he State’s already brimming reservoirs with a ‘red alert’ having been declared at Idamalayar reservoir in Ernakulam district. But there is no need to panic, authorities said in a communication.

The Idukki reservoir too is witnessing inflows, with its level reaching 2,396.96 ft against a full level of 2,403 ft.